Maybe it was the atmosphere of all the students in Tempe sporting gold for the football game against USC, or maybe it was the fact that it was the home opener, but something sparked a competitive fire in the ASU women’s swimming and diving team, as it easily beat UNLV and Washington State in Saturday’s meet.

The women’s team defeated UNLV 188.5-108.5 and Washington 209-78 to improve to 2-1 on the season.

The ASU men’s swimming and diving team did not yield the same result, however, as it dropped its match to UNLV 189-105 to fall to 0-3 on the season.

Freshman Paige Schultz led the Sun Devils with multiple wins. She placed first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.63 and followed it up with a first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.97.

“I love representing ASU, and it felt really cool to win,” Schultz said.

Senior Ashton Aubry was another standout from the women’s team. She placed first in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly with times of 55.38 and 2:01.37, respectively.

Senior Jamie Martinez took the win in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.49, and in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.48.

Sophomore Jordyn Green took the win in both of the women’s breaststroke races, finishing in 1:03.52 in the 100 breast and 2:16.43 in the 200 breast.

The ASU team of Martinez, sophomore Rebecca Ejdervik, Aubry and junior Kathryn Haron took first in the 400-yard medley relay with a final time of 3:48.49.

Junior Brittany Jumer took first in both of her diving events, scoring a 273.75 on the 1-meter and a 324.53 on the 3-meter.

ASU swimming coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said she has already seen progress in her team but acknowledges that there is still plenty to work on in the early season.

“We had some improvements from last week, the women in particular,” Tierney-Walker said. “We need to get better as a team, as far as racing in season. I think our approach is to get better with each outing.”

Freshman diver Riley McCormick was the only winner for the men, taking first in the 1-meter (348.53) and the 3-meter (365.33).

ASU diving coach Mark Bradshaw said he was impressed with how the divers performed after a tough week of strength and conditioning practices.

“Considering everyone was tired and sore, we competed pretty well.”
Senior Max Laney swam the 200 IM and the 200-yard backstroke, taking second in both with times of 1:57.04 and 1:51.49, respectively.

Sophomore Xavier Mohammed also had strong finishes, placing second in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:12.35) and the 200-yard butterfly (1:53.04).

The ASU swimming and diving team will host UCLA and USC next weekend.

Reach the reporter at nicole.klauss@asu.edu.